LiAngelo Ball said he only thanked President Donald Trump after his return from China because UCLA made him, Ball said Wednesday in an interview with the Breakfast Club on Power 105.1.

Ball was asked if would have still thanked Trump had he known he would leave UCLA to play in Lithuania, and he said no.

“If they didn’t want me to do it. If they didn’t tell me to do it, it wouldn’t have been in there, to be honest.”

Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were accused of taking sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store in Hangzhou. The players did not play in the Bruins' game against Georgia Tech and remained in the team's hotel. Trump was on his own trip to China and says that he mentioned their case with President Xi Jinping of China. The players were released on bail on Nov. 8 but remained in the hotel until they boarded a flight to Los Angeles on Tuesday.